Nintendo today announced it will soon slash the suggested retail price for its DS Lite system. The price tag will change from $130 to $100 in the US as of June 5, 2011.

A price cut for the DS Lite shouldn't be too much of a surprise, given that its successor, the Nintendo 3DS, has now been available for a few months. The Nintendo 3DS launched on February 26, 2011 in Japan, on March 25, 2011 in Europe and on March 27, 2011 in North America.

Essentially a smaller, thinner version of the original DS, the DS Lite features improved screens, a longer and thicker stylus, as well as a repositioned microphone. The DS Lite retains most of the features of the DS, including the advanced touch screen technology, voice recognition and Wi-Fi capabilities. The DS Lite also features adjustable screen brightness with four settings.

In short, if you couldn't care less about 3D capabilities, now would be a good time to consider the DS Lite. Make sure to look into what you'd be missing out on, however, as the portable gaming system was first released quite while ago: March 2, 2006 in Japan.

Nintendo also took the opportunity to tout that the Nintendo DS family is the best-selling video game system in history. More than 48.9 million systems in the Nintendo DS family have sold in the US alone.

"From the moment it launched, Nintendo DS Lite hit a sweet spot for consumers in terms of value, experience and fun," Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said in a statement. "This new price point will introduce Nintendo DS Lite to even more consumers, and the new red packaging will make it easy for them to find their favorite Mario titles."

Also in June, six Mario games for the Nintendo DS will receive new red packaging, representing some of the best-selling fan-favorite Nintendo DS games of all time, and making it easier for consumers to identify the hit titles in stores. The six affected Mario games are as follows: New Super Mario Bros., Mario Kart DS, Super Mario 64 DS, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!, and Mario Party DS.

Mario is one of the most beloved video game characters and the top video game franchise of all time. Thirty-one Mario games have topped sales of more than 1 million units since 1995, more than any other franchise. Through the end of March 2011, more than 262 million games in the core Super Mario series have sold worldwide.